ACLI letter to President Trump – May 2016

Thank you for your leadership of our nation, especially the way you are working to keep your campaign promises. We write to respectfully request your swift action to fulfill a special promise you made, and also one the United States made more than twenty years ago to one of our most important allies. As Christian leaders who collectively speak to over 60 million Americans, we believe the time has come, at long last, to uphold American law by moving the U.S. Embassy to Israel’s eternal and indivisible capital city of Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 (Public Law 104–45) declared, “The city of Jerusalem is the seat of Israel’s President, Parliament, and Supreme Court, and the site of numerous government ministries and social and cultural institutions.” It also noted, “The United States maintains its embassy in the functioning capital of every country except in the case of our democratic friend and strategic ally, the State of Israel.” Upon its enactment in October 1995, this legislation established in statute that Jerusalem is indeed the capital of Israel and that the U.S. Embassy should be moved there by May 31, 1999.

Sadly, every U.S. President since then has taken advantage of a provision in the law allowing its requirements to be waived for six months if “necessary to protect the national security interests of the United States.” Such suspensions have been repeated semi-annually for two decades, and it is time to end America’s doublespeak.

The Republican National Convention’s official 2016 Platform rightly stated, “We recognize Jerusalem as the eternal and indivisible capital of the Jewish state and call for the American embassy to be moved there in fulfillment of U.S. law.” Moreover, we were honored and grateful that you pledged to specifically uphold this policy in response to a request from the American Christian Leaders for Israel (ACLI) coalition during your campaign. Many of our constituents cast their vote for you due to this commitment.

Now we ask you to send a message early in your administration that the United States will indeed honor its strongest and only true democratic ally in the Middle East by respecting its capital city—Jerusalem—and immediately moving the US Embassy there. Implementation of the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act should not be delayed nor made contingent on any future peace agreements.

Thank you for your consideration and your leadership as President of the United States.